National treasure Derek Thompson recalls amazing Aintree tales

Anyone with a passing interest in racing will remember the 1973 Grand National as being the first of Red Rum’s famous three victories.

However, it was also the first time Derek Thompson commentated on the great race as a green 22-year-old from the north-east.

‘Tommo’ has long been one of the most recognisable faces in the sport due to his time in front of the cameras for ITV and Channel 4 Racing, and there is not much he has not turned his hand to.

He was assistant trainer to Denys Smith in County Durham not long after he had won the National with Red Alligator, he was an amateur jockey, briefly, and beat the then Prince of Wales and now King Charles III into second place at Plumpton in a charity race in 1980.

Thompson has been and still is a familiar voice at racecourses all over the country, calling them home, and he was even a point of contact for what was believed to be the IRA during Shergar’s kidnapping.

You could say the 74-year-old has done it all, and he would not change any of it as he approaches his final few months on the commentary roster.

“The sport of racing has been fantastic to me, I have loved every single minute of it, and I still do to this day,” said Thompson, as he looked back over his career.

“Like most people involved in racing, the Grand National has played a central part in my life. I think I was 13 or 14 the first time I went with my mum and dad when Anglo won in 1966.

“Then of course, like everyone who was there, I’ll never forget the 1967 Foinavon race. It was the race of all races, but what I’ll always remember is the incredible commentary of Michael O’Hehir, who called every horse as it fell, unseated or was brought down – it was amazing.

“I’d already started commentating then, as my dad was secretary at Cleveland point-to-point and when I was 15, I remember halfway through a race he switched the mic off and said ‘I can’t see them anymore, you’ll have to take over’ – and that’s how I started.

“I went on to join the BBC and my first one for them (on radio) was Red Rum in 1973, I’m still the youngest person to commentate on it, I was 22.

“I was in the press room doing my colours and Michael O’Hehir said to come with him to the weighing room to check all the jockeys etc, and to this day I still do that. He then gave me a lift to my position in a police car at the fence after Valentine’s!

“That race was incredible, with Red Rum catching Crisp, and I can still remember Peter Bromley’s commentary (‘we’ll never see a race like this again in a hundred years’) word for word to this day.

“The sad part of the Red Rum story is that the stable he was trained out of by Ginger McCain, behind a car sales room, is still there in Southport, you’d think they would have turned it into a tourist attraction.”

Thompson also has close ties to the 1981 race, won by Bob Champion on Aldaniti, which was so famous it was turned into a movie.

“If you’d said to Hollywood producers ‘let’s do a film about a guy who recovers from cancer to ride a horse in the Grand National who was supposed to be put down – and then they go and win it’, they would say it was too far-fetched!” laughed Thompson.

“Bob and I grew up together in Cleveland. His dad was the Huntsman for the Cleveland and we would always follow him and that is where we learned to ride.

“About nine months before he won the National, he rang me from America, which I thought was strange, and that was when he told me he had a problem. It turned out he’d had a fall at Stratford, ran after the horse and it kicked him in the testicles and that is what gave him cancer.

“I used to go and see him in hospital and one night I came out and just broke down in the car, as he was in such a bad way. He was being sick every 90 seconds, he was one of the first users of a cancer drug. He couldn’t even walk across the ward.

“How he recovered to win the National, I’ll never know and he has gone on to raise £15million for the Bob Champion Cancer Trust.”

‘There’s always a story’ is usually a phrase trotted out before the big race and Thompson has seen plenty.

“Obviously in recent years we’ve had Tiger Roll winning twice and then Covid getting in the way of a third, and I’ve really enjoyed seeing Lucinda Russell win it twice with One For Arthur and Corach Rambler for Scotland,” he said.

“However, I think seeing Rachael Blackmore win it on Minella Times was amazing. She is incredible, she’s now done a clean sweep of all the big races at Cheltenham and Aintree and she is the most likeable and honourable person you could meet.

“Yes, the National has changed, the fences are smaller, there are less runners and it’s a bit shorter, but it’s still the most famous race in the world.

“I think last year’s winner I Am Maximus could win it again, despite top-weight. It’s a shame it looks like Mr Vango won’t get in this year, I’d love to see him run in it for Sara Bradstock, the late Lord Oaksey’s daughter.”